11 Pantry Staples Black Households Buy in Bulk, All Under $5 at Walmart

The 11 pantry staples I buy at Walmart every month, every one under five dollars. Together they come to about $33, and they've kept my kitchen full for forty years. Same list my mama shopped, and her mama before her. They're the plain store-brand bags on the bottom shelf, not the boxes with the pretty pictures. Rice, beans, grits, cornmeal, a can that makes Friday-night salmon croquettes, and the one thing in my pantry that isn't even food but replaced half the bottles under my sink. Plus the little number on the shelf tag that tells you the real price, and why the cheap bags always sit down by your ankles. 00:00 Eleven things, all under $5 01:29 The shelf tag trick 02:02 #11 Rice 02:46 #10 Oats 03:22 #9 Flour (and Mama's biscuit trick) 04:30 #8 Grits 04:59 #7 The one that isn't food 05:52 Winter of 1964 06:42 #6 Evaporated milk 07:25 #5 Black-eyed peas 08:00 #4 Protein for pennies a plate 09:13 #3 Canned salmon 09:58 #2 Hot sauce 10:37 #1 The bag Mama would grab 11:22 Why the cheap bags are on the bottom shelf 12:00 All eleven for about $33 12:31 One thing to do this week What was the one thing your grandmama never let run out? Tell me in the comments. I read them every night. PRICES (walmart.com, checked October 2026; prices vary by store) Great Value long grain rice 5 lb $3.37 · old fashioned oats 42 oz $4.18 · all-purpose flour 5 lb $2.38 · quick grits 24 oz $2.18 · white vinegar 1 gal $3.94 · evaporated milk 12 oz $1.00 · black-eyed peas 1 lb $1.66 · pinto beans 4 lb $3.76 · pink salmon 14.75 oz $4.97 · Louisiana hot sauce 12 oz $1.56 · yellow cornmeal 5 lb $3.77 SOURCES Slotting fees and shelf placement (U.S. GAO): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/G... How stores decide what goes at eye level: https://www.grocerycouponguide.com/ar... #PantryStaples #Walmart #BernicesHouseHacks